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Extension of Jobless Benefits One Step Closer to Passage

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Congress has approved legislation to restore unemployment benefits to people who have been out of work for six months or more, ending a seven-week interruption that caused 2 1/2 million people to lose unemployment benefits averaging about $300 a week.

The 272-152 House vote today will send the measure to President Obama, who has promised to quickly sign it. The House vote came less than 24 hours after a mostly party-line Senate vote yesterday on the measure, which is just one piece of a larger Democratic jobs agenda that has otherwise mostly collapsed after months of battles with Republicans.